@Sonata: And yet in the main FIFA events you guys don't do much :P but seriously, the US National Women's team is good, they actually talk about it just like they talk about current FC Barcelona, they barely even look human :P RESPECT!

@Newdeath: LOL the reason why the men suck is because most of are highly athletic guys dont get exposed much in Soccer. Think if some one like Vince Carter who jumped over a 7ft for a dunk in a real game focused all his energy playing soccerXD

@Sonata: Nah, you guys just aren't that good at football :P being that tall in football is bad you know? You're likely to get injured pretty badly if you're that tall in football LOL defenders in football are pretty damn strong and big, a tall guy would break a leg or tear a muscle taking on one of the hard tacklers like Puyol or Pepe. Also being too tall means they can't run fast enough so they are easy for defenders to pick apart :P

But you guys are decent. Landon Donovan is a world class player, but man you guys really need to kick it up a notch :P ah if only you guys had a Xavi and Iniesta, then you'd really be trouble XD or you could be smart and send young players to Barcelona's youth center and when they're old enough, get them back :P Barca's youth center produces the best players in the world like Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas etc. I'm sure you guys would like to have players of that quality :P

@Newdeath: The thing is Vince only 6'6 and was pretty fast in his prime. The state of Florida could produce a bad ass team if they focused solely on Soccer for 10 years instead of American Football. They have some very fine athletics down there.

Penalty shoot-outs will be the death of English football, can't believe the curse has hit the Women's team too. Good luck to both US and Japan though, should be a good match. Gonna try and catch it after work

@Sonata: Well maybe you guys could but I doubt it. Athleticism is one thing but in football its not enough, you need to have a lot of ball control, balance, stamina (you guys got that it in the bag), a lot of dribbling skills and a good center of gravity. 6'6" is still too tall for football, Peter Crouch is 6'7" and he can barely run, and he's English, his country's main sport is football, and in England they value speed a lot so you can see that being tall is not good for football, unless you're a goalkeeper. You need a low center of gravity like Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, And you guys really need to produce good midfielders, they are too important for football teams, the main reason behind Barca's success is their ability to produce the best midfielders in the world.

Football needs a lot more than athleticism, you guys would need a lot of time to create a badass team. There are too many different styles in football, and only some are effective. Take Cristiano Ronaldo for instance, he's tall, strong, fast and a good dribbler, the most complete modern football player, but he falls and dives a lot, he dives because well he's an idiot :P but he falls because he is tall. Football requires a more creative approach than an athletic one :P

The best players in the world are not even that athletic to begin with, they are hardly athletic. Iniesta, Xavi and Messi are not that athletic, in fact Messi was said to be too small to be a player but now he's the best :P athleticism will only get you so far in the world of football.

@matti00: Honestly I think Japan will lose. The US National Women's team is just too damn good. They hardly ever lose, its the same situation with Barca. They lose one match and everyone acts like something impossible has happened :P

@Newdeath: People said the same thing about the German women's national team too, look what happened there! I think Japan has the pieces to cause an upset, but that doesn't mean I think it's gonna happen, the US are definitely the favourites to win it all.

Does anybody know how all this is being treated in the Japanese media? Is it a big story or do people not really care?

@matti00: True true. It could end up like the World Cup when Spain lost to Switzerland but they did go on to win it all. I'm favoring the US on this one since even Brazil (who has the greatest female footballer of all time playing for them) lost to the US. Japan does have a chance though.

Well not a lot of people really care, they're mostly focusing on the Copa America.

@Newdeath: I know thats true, but the point is that the young US talent pool does have all those things, but it just doesn't focus their talents on the sport of soccer. The reason why the Women's team is good is they dont have American football in the way. They still Basketball, and Softball.

@Sonata: Well the women's team is good, they know how to work as a team, a lot better than most of the other female teams. Brazil depends a lot on Marta etc. The US Women's team play like the male German team, they work as a team, there's no selfishness on the field, nobody's trying to steal the show. The male US team isn't selfish too but they just don't have the creative goods for football. They are athletic, but they aren't creative or fast enough. The three best players in the world are actually some of the least athletic players in football, what they are however is creative and fast, they have great vision, balance, precision and passing skills.

That's why if I was involved in the US' situation, I'd send all the youth players to be trained at Barcelona where they create the best midfielders in the world, midfielders are the most important in football IMO since Xavi and Iniesta are the heart of current Barca and the reason why they win so much. Then when they are done, I'd take them back and have them take the US to the highest levels :P although I should stop giving you any ideas because I wouldn't want that to happen XD

@Sonata: Xavi isn't but Messi is faster :P take note that in football you don't get to see a player's top speed most of the time because the field is too big and it wastes a lot of energy moving at top speed. Here's a good show of speed from Messi, that's really hard to do, and take note that he was only 19 when he did that:

And here's a speed test from Ronaldo :P

That's really hard to do without falling :P that shows balance, speed and control.

Heh not going to join the running arguments here as I don't have an answer but interesting to see this get some responses here where the other place I posted this thread which will remain nameless got none. Differing communities are different. To bad the Japanese people are not paying attention there team is doing them proud and showing the power of the Japanese philosophy. The reason the Japanese are doing well is that they also know how to work as a team they have 0 star players but they are by far one of the most entertaining teams to watch.

Somewhat late, but congrats to the Japanese Women's Soccer Team for reaching the FIFA World Cup 2011 Final against the USA. They are giving their countrymen back in Japan something to cheer about in a rough year for their people (due to the horrific earthquakes and tsunami disasters).

As a American, I will normally be pulling for our team, but inside, I will not be mad if the Japanese Soccer team wins it all and takes home the glory and pride of the World Cup back home to Japan.